By Richard Thomas Rating: B+ The Whiskey Reviewer could be said to have a love affair with Michter’s Barrel Strength Rye. Deputy Editor Kurt Maitland was pointing at it when he coined his rule that “stronger whiskey is usually better whiskey.” Senior contributor and all-around rye guy Scott Peters is enamored, and I’m more than …
By Richard Thomas Rating: B+ One of the better things to come out of the Pandemic and its associated lockdowns were the rise of good pre-mixed, bottled or canned cocktails. Stop and consider that the mixology boom was well under way thirteen years ago, when we first reported on how that boom was sweeping rye …
By Richard Thomas Rating: B+ Lexington Brewing & Distilling’s Town Branch 7 Year Old Single Malt is a product of brewstilling synergy. Whether the whiskey was made with the distillery’s pot still is unknown, but what is known is that it was aged for seven-plus years in old Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale barrels. That drink, …
By Richard Thomas Rating: B- Although some folks think malt whiskey is a thing best left to the Scots, Irish and the rest of the world, and Americans ought to stay out of it, the American Single Malt is on the precipice of becoming a thing. The American Single Malt Whiskey Commission is now very …
By Richard Thomas Rating: B+ When Heaven Hill finally took the 12 year age statement off Elijah Craig Barrel Proof last year, several years after taking the Elijah Craig Small Batch no age statement in 2016, it was an even noteworthy for just how little comment it attracted. Sure, some croaked, but compared to the …
By David Lavine Rating: B- Roe & Co.’s newest entry into the market is a solera-aged and blended single malt Irish Whiskey. Taking an inventive spin on the solera method, Roe & Co. intends this to be a periodic release, each version showcasing another element of the process. The solera method is most associated with …
Updated April 1, 2024 By Richard Thomas Average Rating: B+ Rabble Rouser has been around for a few years now, having first been released in 2015. Although it has been a four year old expression from the beginning, it was not initially labeled a bottled in bond and therefore can’t be considered as a forerunner …
By Richard Thomas Rating: B For the whole of the 21st Century, Islay distillery Bruichladdich has been defined by its 1994 closure. Many Scottish distilleries have been closed and reopened, but those closures are often a matter of history and have little or no impact on the whiskies available today. Bruichladdich’s seven year gap is …
By Randall H. Borkus Rating: B- The brothers Ben and David Holladay founded the Blue Springs Distillery in 1856a, it was at a limestone well supposedly discovered by Lewis and Clark. The distillery changed hands multiple times; first to George Shawhan, who renamed it the Shawhan Distillery in 1900; again in 1936 to become the …
By Richard Thomas Rating: B When Brown-Forman bought the BenRiach Group, they acquired not just BenRiach, but also Glendronach and Glenglassaugh. The acquisition marked the first foray into Scotch Whisky for a company best known for Jack Daniel’s, and they’ve stuck with the trio of malt distilleries these last seven and a half years. This …
